HP has already announced a slew of touch-capable Windows 8 products targeted at consumers, but today it has unveiled hardware for the business set. The HP ElitePad 900 is a 10" Windows 8 tablet running Intel's Clover Trail-based Atom processors, and features business-class security features along with a sturdy aluminum frame reminiscent of the company's business-class EliteBook laptops.

The ElitePad 900 isn't slated to ship until January, but we know a fair amount about its specifications already: it will include 2GB of RAM and either a 32GB or 64GB solid-state drive, 802.11n and Bluetooth 4.0, an 8 megapixel rear camera and 1080p front camera, a card reader, NFC, GPS, and optional mobile broadband connectivity. The tablet also sports a 1280×800 display, giving it a relatively rare 16:10 aspect ratio, where many other Windows tablets have stuck with 1366×768 or 1080p displays with 16:9 ratios. The tablet's battery life is said to be about ten hours, and this can be roughly doubled by the addition of a secondary battery.

Enlarge/ The Expansion Jacket adds a variety of ports and includes space for an optional secondary battery.

HP

Enlarge/ The ElitePad's docking station is one of its most business-friendly options.

HP

The new tablet appears to be a solid upgrade over the HP Slate 2, the company's current Atom-based Windows business tablet, though its specifications certainly aren't pushing the envelope. The tablet will be differentiated somewhat by its accessories: the ElitePad Productivity Jacket adds a keyboard to make the tablet more laptop-like; the ElitePad Expansion Jacket adds USB and HDMI ports as well as a secondary battery; a docking station adds USB, HDMI, Ethernet, and VGA ports and will allow users to plug the tablet into a second monitor and other accessories at their desk; and an "Executive Tablet Pen" will allow for writing on-screen, though with no mention of an active digitizer in this tablet, the pen is likely of the less-accurate capacitive variety.

As with most of the Clover Trail-based Windows 8 tablets we've seen so far, we have no pricing information at this time—we'll know more about the pricing as the January launch date draws nearer.

Fuck, why won’t even any of the PC makers try, black anodized aluminium? Or, dunno, dark indigo blue? Pathetic. The only thing most people will take away from this is "looks like an iPad"—and it’s not like Apple needs HP to do their advertising for them…

Windows 8 "the design language formerly known as Metro" requires 1366x768 for Snap. So HP released a tablet that can't support Snap? Seems kind of odd.

I can't wait to see how these Clovertrail platforms perform vs ARM. At the very least the performance should be roughly the same. Seems like the best of both worlds with the SFF chassis plus x86. I can totally see one of these being used as a plug and go workstation.

The tablet also sports a 1280x800 display, giving it a relatively rare 16:10 aspect ratio where many other Windows tablets have stuck with 1366x768 or 1080p displays with 16:9 ratios.

This is not something to be praised. 16:9 is a standard -16:10 has been phasing out of the industry for a few years. You would think that a Company that owns the legacy of the iPaq would eventually be able to get a tablet correct.

Let's hope this doesn't tank as quick as the Slates did.

And accessories - is it so bad that they need to distract us with shiney extras ?

Fuck, why won’t even any of the PC makers try, black anodized aluminium? Or, dunno, dark indigo blue? Pathetic. The only thing most people will take away from this is "looks like an iPad"—and it’s not like Apple needs HP to do their advertising for them…

black anodized aluminium - do you know what that is - it's paint for metal. It's a coating that wears off. There is not actually black aluminium.

And it looks less like an iPad and more like a 2nd Gen iPhone 3G. But yeah while you're crying about how it looks too much like an Apple product - let's get HP to try and wrap it in "black anodized aluminium" to make it look more like an Apple product - just so you have somethign real to complain about (and Apple can sue them too).

Yeah, because a company would not hesitate to buy a bunch of new tablets and docks, but wouldn't even consider getting a few new projectors.

Sad, but true.

The first use case that springs to mind is medical -- both vets and offices that only treat one species. Tablets are already in this workspace, and the final specs may have been geared toward porting those applications easier and faster -- and less about watching videos at 16:9 or snapping your twitter feed to the side of the screen.

I think it would be great if we had usable windows 8 tablets. Unfortunately, 2GB of ram is going to CRIPPLE windows 8 and applications even more than the Atom processor--especially when it's shared with the onboard graphics.

This will be even more of an issue for this device because it's very form factor dictates that it is to be used as an instant access device--why else would you be holding it?

Some people are missing the point, since the Elitepad is running x86, it can be a notebook replacement. Currently I have a Elitebook but it's connected to a 22 inch monitor, keyboard and trackball but it's closed.Pretending that I have an Elitepad, I could move it closer to me and it use as a secondary touch-enabled screen. The dock was, clearly, manufactured with this is mind.

I'm finding some of the hardware coming out of the Windows 8 ecosystem interesting, but not interesting enough to go back to Windows. I have a lot of investment in every other ecosystem (Android, Linux, Mac), and I haven't seen a compelling reason to go back. All I've heard talk about is MS Office, which I haven't needed for a couple years, and I can do everything else really comfortably with my current setup. I'd be really interested to see some of this newer hardware running Android.

Hrrm,I really hope they'll make a model with a better (1600×900+) screen and an i3 CPU and I'll probably buy a couple with a pair of docks and the extended battery as potential laptop replacements,but otherwise.. the thing is just a bit too 'meh' spec-wise

black anodized aluminium - do you know what that is - it's paint for metal. It's a coating that wears off. There is not actually black aluminium.

Its actually an aluminum oxide coating with a dye impregnation, thats sealed in by teflon or nickel acetate to lock the dye in.

It doesn't wear off so easily unless its on edges. Rounded edges = Apple lawsuit though. So can't do that

The coating is hard, in some cases so hard diamonds are needed to scratch it. I remember tool & die makers calling and bitching at me because I'd hard anodize their parts,and they had to make changes to the part afterwards, they'd call me and say " what the hell just broke 3 of my bits ". They'd have to bring it to me to have it chemically stripped off so they could modify and have the coating redone.

Your simple approach and thought to it is partially accurate. Dyes are not intended to last forever, But if the depth of the coating is sufficient, then you can get enough dye to where its almost impossible to scratch it or scratch it off.

With that said, you're now more informed about that which you speak of. You can now go out into the world and further educate it.

The tablet also sports a 1280x800 display, giving it a relatively rare 16:10 aspect ratio where many other Windows tablets have stuck with 1366x768 or 1080p displays with 16:9 ratios.

This is not something to be praised. 16:9 is a standard -16:10 has been phasing out of the industry for a few years. You would think that a Company that owns the legacy of the iPaq would eventually be able to get a tablet correct.

Let's hope this doesn't tank as quick as the Slates did.

And accessories - is it so bad that they need to distract us with shiney extras ?

There's absolutely no reason why a device running Windows needs to have a standardized screen resolution. The range of "normal" screen sizes is so great that designing software for a specific size would be dumb.

And while 1366x768 is a common size, it is a terrible design choice. There is simply not enough vertical space.

The tablet also sports a 1280x800 display, giving it a relatively rare 16:10 aspect ratio where many other Windows tablets have stuck with 1366x768 or 1080p displays with 16:9 ratios.

This is not something to be praised. 16:9 is a standard -16:10 has been phasing out of the industry for a few years. You would think that a Company that owns the legacy of the iPaq would eventually be able to get a tablet correct.

Let's hope this doesn't tank as quick as the Slates did.

And accessories - is it so bad that they need to distract us with shiney extras ?

There's absolutely no reason why a device running Windows needs to have a standardized screen resolution. The range of "normal" screen sizes is so great that designing software for a specific size would be dumb.

And while 1366x768 is a common size, it is a terrible design choice. There is simply not enough vertical space.

Except with something lower than 1366x768, you lose a pretty helpful feature: snapping of Metro apps. Go higher than that, not lower.

People seem to be missing the point of this device. This isn't intended to be used by folks at home. This is intended to be used in the office. I could see these being a huge deal in the medical field, in board rooms, and in conference rooms.

Think code reviews where you can literally point something out. Powerpoint with a pen so you can make annotations on the fly. Taking notes during a meeting in OneNote, linked to an audio recording of that same meeting.

You have the use cases wrong, is all I'm saying. These are perfectly targeted at business uses. After all, this isn't any less hardware than is often sitting on people's desks. IIRC, Clover Trail is an out-of-order multi-issue architecture, after all, meaning it is more of a low power (in both senses) i3 than it is an old netbook processor.

Fuck, why won’t even any of the PC makers try, black anodized aluminium? Or, dunno, dark indigo blue? Pathetic. The only thing most people will take away from this is "looks like an iPad"—and it’s not like Apple needs HP to do their advertising for them…

black anodized aluminium - do you know what that is - it's paint for metal. It's a coating that wears off. There is not actually black aluminium.

And it looks less like an iPad and more like a 2nd Gen iPhone 3G. But yeah while you're crying about how it looks too much like an Apple product - let's get HP to try and wrap it in "black anodized aluminium" to make it look more like an Apple product - just so you have somethign real to complain about (and Apple can sue them too).

So you can’t read more than one sentance of a post. Life must be hard.

They could paint it metallic, they could cover the black anodized aluminium with a protective finish or something, dunno. It looks like an iPad 2 3G but with a landscape setup instead of portrait.

So, yeah, I’ll fucking complain, because HP is doing their best to appear irrelevant when they pull shit like that.

This isn't so bad for medical services I'm guessing. Anyone in medical IT wanna pipe up?

I only have second-hand info from people in medical IT, but from what I heared, the companies are writing their apps for iOS because the iPad and iPhone are the most predictable platforms. Not sure if the existing windows apps will transition to Windows 8 pads smoothly. If anything, I’d guess anyone wanting an alternative platform already started on Android ports a while ago. Will be interesting to watch at least.

Looks interesting but nothing that would get me to consider it over a Surface Pro for a laptop replacement. The lack of active digitizer, low res screen without snap, and less RAM than I've had in a computer for 6 years make is seem like a halfway attempt.

I've seriously been waiting for tech to get to this point for years since I bought a used Toshiba tablet PC on eBay. We should be able to build a proper laptop replacement that is lightweight, powerful, and has an active digitizer for notes and drafting, capacitive screen for typing, and optional docks for full kb/mouse as well as power charging. If ultrabooks can be as thin as they are, why not add the wacom and capacitive screen, lose the keyboard, and keep the decent CPU and RAM?

The tablet also sports a 1280x800 display, giving it a relatively rare 16:10 aspect ratio where many other Windows tablets have stuck with 1366x768 or 1080p displays with 16:9 ratios.

This is not something to be praised. 16:9 is a standard -16:10 has been phasing out of the industry for a few years. You would think that a Company that owns the legacy of the iPaq would eventually be able to get a tablet correct.

Except with something lower than 1366x768, you lose a pretty helpful feature: snapping of Metro apps. Go higher than that, not lower.

At the risk of repeating jdale, that's a stupid design decision by MS. That helpful feature should not depend on screen resolution. Which returns to the point: 1280x800 shouldn't have to suck -just- because MS couldn't figure put how to do metro at that resolution, which is really quite prevalent.

That aside, I do like the more-square display. Not everything is a damn movie. Wide is fine, but too wide is awkward to hold and use - a common failing in tablets. So overall, I support HPs display choice, and MS should figure out how to do things without making hardware vendors mask their shortcomings.

Andrew Cunningham / Andrew has a B.A. in Classics from Kenyon College and has over five years of experience in IT. His work has appeared on Charge Shot!!! and AnandTech, and he records a weekly book podcast called Overdue.